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2 workers die as WCup venue partially collapses
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With one thunderous crash, Brazil’s troubled preparations for the World Cup are thrown in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, just as soccer gears up for next year’s big event.
Part of the stadium that will host the tournament’s opening match collapsed on Wednesday, killing two workers and aggravating already urgent worries Brazil won’t be ready.
“It was a huge explosion,” said 32-year-old stonemason Evandro Pereira, who was off at a cafeteria at the time of the lunchtime accident. “It was really very scary. We all ran out and we were shocked to see the crane had collapsed on top of the stands.”
The accident at the Arena Corinthians comes just a week before the top names in soccer arrive for the draw that will determine where and when all 32 teams will play in the World Cup’s opening round.
“The sound was as loud as a thunderclap or a huge explosion,” said Rodrigo Vessoni, a reporter with the sports newspaper Lance who witnessed the accident. “There was a lot of running around, a lot of shouting. It was frightening. Chills ran through my entire body.”
World Cup preparations have been plagued by setbacks including cost overruns, stadium delays, accidents, labor strife and huge street protests in the run-up to the June tournament, once envisioned as a coming out party for South America’s largest nation, which is also scheduled to host the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Already, public prosecutors and a workers union in Sao Paulo are demanding an investigation into conditions at the work site, saying construction shouldn’t resume until authorities deem the stadium safe.
Ricardo Trade, CEO of the local World Cup organizing committee, said authorities would determine whether construction needs to be halted.
The accident could lead to recriminations between organizers and world soccer’s organization FIFA, which has set a December deadline for all 12 World Cup stadiums to be ready. The tournament begins on June 12.
The stadium was nearly finished before Wednesday’s accident, which occurred when a crane crashed into a 500-ton metal structure. That structure then cut through the stadium’s outer walls, destroying part of the outside of the building and slamming into a giant LED panel that runs across the facade.
Andres Sanchez, former president of the Sao Paulo soccer club Corinthians, which is building the stadium, said it appeared the structure of the stadium was not compromised.
Six stadiums have already been declared ready for the games. But Brazil is still racing to finish the other six, and there is particular concern that the stadiums in Cuiaba, Manaus and Curitiba may not be ready by the end of December.
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